Barcelona Home match review.
WooHoo. Got my prediction nailed on but the wrong way round. What a night for City. I said the Monchengladbach home match against Celtic was unpredictable and I was right. A 1-1 draw meant City keep everything in their own hands and stand a good chance of qualification too. I think first place is a little beyond City as Barcelona have to lose another game and I don't think they will. City move onto Germany and an away match against Borussia Monchengladbach in a few weeks in the Champions League. A point should be enough for qualification (head to head records count over goal difference) as long as Celtic don't win at Parkhead against Barcelona (unlikely but anything can happen). Guardiola said before hand that City needed to make back those 2 dropped points at Parkhead and they have. 9 points will see City qualify so two draws or one win away. If city can win their last two games, that puts pressure on Barcelona for top place but I don't think City will catch them. That's the permutations done, so on with last nights heroics in Manchester.
City played well the first 20 minutes, allowing Barcelona to have the ball but aggressive in defence and midfield and look for pace and space in Sterling. It worked until City overcommitted from a freekick. Gundogan, Otamendi, Fernandinho and Stones were all out of position, Gundogan just couldn't reach the interception from a long pass from Messi to Neymar. Neymar dribbles centrally to the left, picks his pass well and Messi takes on De Bruyne in central defence (that's how out of position City were and how quick Barcelona were on this counter) and Messi has a one on one, angling on his left foot and ready to pull the trigger, there was only one result. 1-0 Barcelona. A fantastic counter attack goal. But how well did City respond? Just like at the Nou Camp a couple of weeks ago, City played their game still but at the Nou Camp Gundogan missed his one on one from a tight angle and Barcelona went on to win. Barcelona, in the 39th minute, play a sloppy pass from the back (something City do all too often and get punished for it) and Aguero intercepts, plays a lovely light pass into Sterling on the right hand side of the box and has a chance to shoot, he doesn't, he squares across the box and Gundogan gambles that this happens and times his run so well that he is left to blast the tap in home. 1-1. Super. The passing mistake came from City high press and work without the ball (again, something other teams have done well against City this season) and City managed to apply pressure. They carried this momentum into the second half which was so important for the game. City had all the momentum in the last 5 minutes of the first half so to carry it forward asked a lot of questions of their mental and physical strength. They came up trumps.
City win a freekick in a dangerous position early in the second half. Barcelona were committing fouls and making a lot of mistakes at this point and it was important that City punished them. De Bruyne did. A freekick which has obviously been rehearsed in training with City blocking the Barcelona wall, creating gaps for De Bruyne to find and make it difficult for the keeper to see. The shot dips and Ter Stegen sees it late and gets a hand to it but goes in. The keeper will be disappointed and Barcelona's defence will be disappointed. But 2-1 to City and they lead against Barcelona at last. City had more opportunities. Sterling had chances to pull the trigger but the ball too far, Silva too and Aguero's high press caused all kinds of problems. Fernandinho performed superbly, he went off first so I hope he isn't injured but I guess we'll find out Friday in Pep's pre match interview for the home match with Middlesbrough at the weekend. Fernando played awesome in his place however.
Barcelona had the chance to level at 2-2 but their makeshift midfield was weak. Gomes had a wonderful chance to score. Barcelona hit City on the break again. Stones made a wonderful tackle midway in the Barcelona half then played a suicidal pass 50 yards up to Suarez and he was away. According to some Everton fans, this sums up John Stones, wonderful with the ball but bad tackling and the makes good tackles and bad with the ball. Inconsistent but if he can compose himself, what a wonderful asset he'll be at City... He's English too. Suarez runs to the box, nutmegs Otamendi who goes sliding in (stop doing that, Zabaleta earlier made a wonderful interception in the City box when Neymar tried to nutmegs him but closed his legs so quickly so Otamendi needs to learn when to slide and when to stay on his feet) and he's through on goal. He gets tracked and he squares the ball centrally, Gomes is one on one or he could feed the ball out wide to Neymar for an open goal but he blasts the shot past Caballero and hits the bar and City clear. A let off and City punish soon after. De Bruyne plays a lovely weighted pass to the byline, Navas (substitute for Sterling) drills it centrally, passed Ter Stegen and Aguero has a tap in. He runs past the ball, the ball hits his arm next to his chest (handball? It would be harsh as his hand isn't raised and where is he meant to put his arm? He doesn't leave it trailing or changing the direction of the ball when it his it) and Gundogan has a tap in which he blasts in again and he has his second of the night and City's third. Job done. 3-1. Barcelona had a chance at the end, but Messi's freekick goes flying high and wide and summed up Barcelona's night. Quality up front, but with 11 vs 11 (important when playing Barcelona to be disciplined and not go men down) you stand a chance.
Barcelona had Iniesta missing. What a miss he is and their midfield never ticked and he's the link between attack and defence and Rakitic and Gomes just wasn't good enough. Pique was missing, but I didn't think Barcelona's defence is too great when ran at. The problem was the right back (Dani Alves was great, why did they sell and not replace??) which didn't know how to handle Kolorov's aggressive runs and plays, Silva's typical Spanish turns and dictating the pace of the game and what was happening and also how to handle De Bruyne and Gundogan when they entered the left hand side of City's attack. The left back situation was even worse. Alba wasn't fit to play, Zabaleta was for City and this caused big problems. If Alba plays, this game could have been oh so different. He gets forward, quick and defends well and stops City's counter attacks through Sterling in the first half and Navas's space to create City's third. Luck was on City's side with Barcelona's team but you can only beat who plays and the fact is, City just beat Barcelona in a competitive game. What a result. On an added note, the referee was awful, Sterling got booked for diving yet he had his foot stood on in the box and was a penalty (not sure City would have score it, however). Busquets and Digne committed many fouls and received no yellow cards, yet Kolorov did and he only committed a couple of fouls and his yellow card was for breaking up play. It was a yellow, but surely repetitive fouling is too from the Barcelona lads? I want consistency from referees, not bias.
Caballero had little to do so gets a 6 from me. Zabaleta looked a little leggy to start but got a lot better as the half went on. I can tell age and pace is against him however, but he showed he can still play great. A 7 for him. Otamendi gets a 6, Stones too. Both were ok, both did good tackles, read the game well, blocked well and both made mistakes that went unpunished. Cut out the mistakes and they rise to 7 and 8's. Kolorov gets a 7. He marked Messi well, he had a quiet game yet scored from the centre. Kolorov was a rock and cleared danger well, read the game well, stayed back and defended and got forward a couple of times and looked dangerous. But he prioritised closing down the left flank and did a fantastic job. Fernandinho and Fernando both get a 7. Both pressed, tackled and passed well. Gundogan gets a 9. He would have had a ten if he tracked back a little more. When he gets forward and presses he looks awesome (he is a German midfielder so what do we expect?) and has nice read of the game. What a signing. Silva gets a 7, he was great with the ball, passing and making sure City could control the game, even though they only had 35% possession. De Bruyne gets an 8. He was quiet first half and looked so dangerous second half, through the middle and on the right. His crossing off set pieces are great, he should take over all the time. His freekick was great and scored, and also passed so well to create chances, particually for the third goal and the build up to Navas's drilled cross/shot. Sterling and Navas both get a 7. Both quick, caused problems and Navas tracked back really well. If he can maintain playing like he did when he came on, maybe he has a future at City. Sterling broke well, caused all sorts of problems on the counter, should have been awarded a penalty but could also have shot more but did a wonderful assist for the first goal for City. Nolito wasn't on the pitch long enough to rate but how good was Aguero? He pressed so well, caused lots of problems and made the first City goal with his interception. Should have scored when Navas crossed but Barcelona's defence showed him so much respect that it allowed all kinds of space for the counter attack for Navas, Sterling, De Bruyne, Gundogan and Silva. Aguero created all that space as he was man marked by their defence and Barcelona's midfield didn't track back and help. Busquets was surprisingly disappointing but they missed Alba and Iniesta more. Iniesta breaks up play like Silva and rather than Barcelona being pressed and making mistakes, you just give him the ball and all of a sudden you end up with Messi, Suarez or Neymar having chances and they score. This didn't happen yesterday and highlights Barcelona's biggest weakness or their best build up players are getting older, slower and picking up injuries. This was all great and City played a near perfect game and won. Pep Guardiola saw it and knew how to do it and win the game and they did. Fair credit. It's amazing what a win at West Brom away can do for confidence. Imagine what a win against Barcelona can do for confidence. City need to carry this momentum forward to Saturday 3pm against Middlesbrough at the Etihad. I'll preview the game on Friday and look to review the game on Sunday or Monday. Until then, have a good one.
